I've Got Your Back
by SkyBlueWriter93
Summary: This is a fic that will be multi chapters that will mainly follow the ship Jyder. Let the story speak for itself. :) The rating M is for later chapters. This story will have hurt/comfort/comedy/romance/and other stuff Remember to Review and Rate! Chapter 3 is posted.
1. Chapter 1

"Now, it was William Nicholson that said, 'We read to know that we are not alone.'" Finn quoted, "We also sing to know we're not alone!" Ryder sighed, "So, I want all of you to take one of these articles that I found and read them, read about each group's struggles. Note how each group had problems as individuals, but as a group, as a choir they overcame their challenges!" Finn handed out the articles.

"_Yeah, it's easy to know you're not alone when you can read..." _Ryder put his head in his hands. This was going to be a tough assignment; he was in glee club to sing, not to read. His blond hair was soft against his skin. He had been working with his tutor, and he was progressing well, but he still wasn't at the level that allowed him to read things easily. He was lucky if he could read his textbooks on a good day, when he was able to fully focus.

"Hey," Jake walked over, his article in hand, "Which one do you have?"

Ryder shrugged, "I don't know, you tell me."

He held his article up to Jake, "Boys II Men, that's the same one I have."  
"Great, at least one of us can read it." Ryder sighed  
"Don't be like the dude, I've heard that you've been improving."  
"Oh yeah? How'd you hear that?" Ryder raised his head up, "You have my tutor's room bugged?"  
"No, good idea though, I heard you and Finn talking in the hallway the other day."  
"Ah."  
"So, let's work on this together." Jake suggested with a smile.  
"Yeah, sorry, but I have football practice after school."  
"I can wait. Not like I have anything better to do."  
"Is that code for you've used up all the women at the school?"  
"Not yet, but I figure hey, you need me more than any woman does right now."  
"That's pretty noble of you."  
"I know. What time do you want to get together?"

Ryder contemplated his schedule, "Football gets out at 5:30, so I'll be out at like 5:45."

"Great, see you then." Jake fist bumped his friend and walked away. "Hey Brittney, now what were you saying about why microwaves should be on the periodic table?"

Ryder cracked a smile; at least he wasn't the only one that was going to get a headache. It was really nice for Jake to offer to help him. He didn't have to, but Ryder was thankful that did. It felt weird that someone else knew about his problem. In fact it was because of Jake that Ryder has made any progress as all. Ryder raised his hand, "Hey Finn, can I use the bathroom?"  
"Sure."

Ryder picked himself up and made his way to the bathroom. The hallways were almost empty, save for the occasional skipper. He nodded to a few jocks passing by. Today was an unadulteratedly ordinary day. Same old song and dance: classwork that was hard to read, glee club, then sports. He opened the door to the bathroom; a potent skunky smell burst from the open doorway. Ryder's throat tensed, he shut his eyes, and clenched his fist in an effort not to throw up. He inched over to the sink and braced himself,

"Ugh, what's the smell?"  
"Oh shit, I think someone's here." came a voice from the handicap stall.  
"Who's there?" Ryder shook his head, trying to clear his senses. The door opened and two boys stumbled out. Both boys wore ripped jeans, shirts with some obscure band that Ryder was sure was much cooler than anything he listened to, both has shaggy hair, and one had a beanie styled cap, "No one dude..."  
"Don't you guys have anywhere better to do that? Ugh, this place reeks."  
"Hehehe. Sorry dude, this shit is great! Try some!" He handed Ryder a baggie of buds, "You won't regret it." the two boys darted out of the bathroom.

"Hey! Wait! No! I don't want this!" But he was yelling into air. The boys had already ran off, leaving him by himself. What was he going to do with a bag of weed? He thought about flushing it, that was probably the best option, he figured, but for some reason he thought it might be useful. He'd have to disguise it, or place it somewhere secret until after football practice. Ryder put the bag inside his hoodie pocket, sighed again and went to the urinal. He undid his jeans, closed his eyes, threaded his dick through the hole in his boxers, and let out a sigh or relief. It was the little things in life that made it grand.

Ryder washed his hands and exited the bathroom. The fresh air that cleansed his sinuses was a gift from the gods. He took in a big breath as he walked only to find out that a faint smell remained. He grabbed the collar of his hoodie, yeah, it was definitely him. He made his way to his locker, sifting through the mess of school papers, his books, and random trinkets he'd managed to amass. He found his bottle of cologne. It was a choice between the cheaper stuff or the big guns. It was probably best if he saved the good stuff until after football, so he spayed the cheaper stuff, and to his surprise the cologne he had on and the cheap stuff made a rather good combination. That was something he would be sure to write down later.

He returned to the choir room, "Hey Ryder."  
"Hey Marley," She smiled widely. There was something addictive about her smile. Ryder didn't know what it was, but whenever he saw her smile, there was no way he could frown, no way he could do anything but smile, "What's up? He asked.  
"Not much, just going over my article, I got the Spice Girls! They were always one of my favorite groups as a child."  
"Really?"

"Yeah, I think they're positive role models and there songs are always just so touching and sassy! I used to dress up in all the costume jewelery that I could find, you know, the pink boa, rings, and beads, then I'd get a pair of big heels, take an empty paper towel holder, have my mom do it up like a microphone, and I'd just sing in my room all day." Marley let out a content sigh, "I miss that, you know, when life was simpler."

She had Ryder hanging on every word. Marley could have been taking about crackers and how they we created, or something just as mundane, but Ryder would listen, he was glad that she was spending any amount of time with him. "That's really cool, I never really listened to them, but they're like, big, so they must be doing something right."  
"Maybe you could come over sometime and we could listen to them!" There was so much excitement in her voice.

"Sure! That sounds great! Maybe this weekend or something."  
"Yeah, sounds like a plan." The bell rang, "I'll see you later, Ryder." She flashed him another smile.  
"Yeah, I'll...see you later." Ryder wandered off the risers in a dreamy haze, knocking himself into several chairs.  
"You okay?" Finn asked.  
"Yeah, better than okay." Ryder replied with a goofy grin, it was going to be some time before Marley's enchanting smile wore off, "See you tomorrow, Finn."


	2. Chapter 2

The slam of lockers reverberated throughout the hallway accompanied by lively chatter of the students of McKinley. Jake made his way through the crowd to his locker. His books were in here somewhere. He dug through his locker. His next class, Spanish, was one of his favorite classes. It was kind of cool learning about another culture, the language, the traditions, and the struggles that the people had to face. Jake made a special connection to cultures that had faced significant struggles, because he felt they were much like his own. It was hard for him to fit in. It was easy to be black. It was easy to be white, and It was easy to be something, but what wasn't easy was being in between two things. He was too white to be black, but too black to me white. People couldn't comprehend that underneath it all, he was still human, and even though he might have trouble admitting it, he still had feelings just the same as everyone else did. A bullet sounds the same in every language, and still hurts the same.

"Hey, you ready for the Spanish test?" Sam said, breaking his train of thought.  
"The Spanish what?" Jake removed his head from his locker.  
"Spanish test. Chapter 6?"  
"Shit."  
"You forgot about it?"  
"No, I randomly say shit for emphasis." Jake pounded his fist against his locker.  
"What're you going to do?" Sam asked.  
"I dunno, but it looks like my next period just opened up. There's no way I'm going to Spanish. I'll fake sick and have my mom write a note or something."  
"Sounds like a plan dude. Good Luck, I'm gonna go. See ya around."  
"Yup. See ya." Jake put his things away, except for a notebook and his article. He closed his lockers and walked away. _What to do..._ Jake thought. He had a whole class period to himself. If he didn't have first lunch period he'd crash a lunch, but there's no sense is going there yet. He could go to the locker room and workout, but then he'd run the risk of running into coach Beaste. There was always the thought of rubbing one out in the bathroom.

That always sounded appealing, but he took care of that before he left his house. He continued down the hallway lost in thought. The girls locker room sounded tempting as well. The thought occurred to him he probably sounded like his brother. That in itself was scary though. He hadn't heard form his brother since their last conversation, maybe he'd have some advice on what to do. If anyone knew how to skip school in McKinley, Puck would be the person to go to. Jake ducked into the nearest corner  
"Hey bro, what's shakin?"

"Hi, uh, nothing."  
"Whatcha' calling for?"  
"I didn't study for a Spanish test, and I'm cutting class, what's there to do around here?"  
"Tried looking in the locker rooms yet?"  
"I knew you'd say that, and yeah, I have. Nothing good this hour," Obviously a lie,  
"Bummer. Go do homework or something?"  
"Did you hit your head? Or contract stupid or something? Homework, really?"  
"I don't know. I never did it. Whoa, cougar is back, I'll talk to you later, bro, I gotta go work my magic." The phone went silent. So much for that.

Maybe he would take the ironic suggestion from his brother, and do homework. It would be better than getting caught and sent to Spanish. He had to move fast though, the late would ring any second and a teacher or a hall monitor would surely snatch him up. Jake quickened his pace to a slight trot. He entered the Library just as the late bell rang. He walked over to the librarian's desk, "Hi, um, do you know where I could find a book about Boy II Men? The music group?" He asked.  
"Yes, the music section is over there." She pointed to second floor, and to a section that was to the right of them."  
"Thanks."

Jake climbed the spiraling stairs, navigating his way to the music section. He walked through the isle. The library sure had a lot of music books, maybe he'd pick one up for fun, or maybe he'd consider to study music. It seemed to workout pretty well for his brother. Even though New Directions only won a high school competition, Jake heard of people getting scholarships for winning national championships like this. His brother wasn't doing it now, but he was pretty skilled with a guitar, or so he'd heard. _BoysIIMen: The Biography._ There! He found it. The binding of the book was new. He looked around. Most of the books he found had untouched bindings, too. It was kind of sad.

He ran his finger along the spines of the books. There were theory books, little booklets of sheet music, discographies from classic eras, and more biographies. He had to admit, the library had a pretty decent collection of music books. It then struck him how important it was that Mr. Schue be in Washington. He was fighting for this, fighting for schools to continue to have collections of music books, and to be able to continue to study the arts in general. Jake cracked a smile. He looked up to Mr. Schue and how selfless he was. He wasn't fighting only for his kids, but the kids of Lima, but for the kids and schools of the nation! Jake took a seat on the second floor, he pulled his article out, grabbed his pen, opened his note book, opened the biography, and started to read and annotate his article.

The bell rang, and Jake looked up. There was no way that it was time to go already. He had only gotten like three pages of notes. Three pages of notes? That was unusual. He was lucky if he could usually crank out a page. There were marks all over his article, too. Notes from the biography, reactions that he had to statements, things he liked, things that could have been better. All in all, he was pretty impressed with what had just came out of him. He felt professional. Finn might have been new at this, but if he kept it up he'd have the Glee club function at a level similar to Mr. Schue.

Jake closed the book, "Man," He said to himself, "I wish I could take this book with me...Wait, dummy, it's a library."

Jake made his way down the stairs and to the Librarian's desk, "Excuse me, I'd like to check this out?"  
"Very well, may I see your school ID?" The librarian asked.  
"Here ya go." He pulled out his ID from his wallet,  
"Thank you, you book is due back in three weeks. Have a nice day"  
"Thanks. You too." Well, that was painless, he couldn't believe he hadn't done that earlier.

Today was turning out to be a pretty good day. He was hanging out with one of his new friends, his bro; he dodged a Spanish test, and found a book he could really get into! Jake was on a light buzz from like. He was headed towards the lunch room, and could smell pizza; his favorite food. It was hard to imagine that something could ruin this day.  
"Jake!" a voice pierced his concentration.  
"And then this happened," he whispered "hi Kitty"  
"I was calling your name for the last two minutes, You made me look stupid."  
"Sorry, what'd you want."

"I saw you flirting with the enemy."

"Flirting with the enemy? Kitty, what are you talking about?"  
"You thought I didn't notice? You were talking to Ryder."  
"Yeah, so?" The two entered the lunch room. There were people already in line, so the two made their way in line. Kitty crossed her arms, "Humph, I just thought you were smarter than that. You're flirting with your competition. What are you trying to do? Oh, I know, if he gets Marley, you're going to make him feel jealous. I didn't know you had it in you Jake Puckerman."

"Kitty, what are you talking about?! I'm not trying to do anything, really. I'm just being a good person, or at least trying to be." Great, the last thing he wanted was the Glee club thinking he was out to double cross someone. Sure they got off to a rough start, but some of the greatest friendships of all times started off with misunderstanding.  
"Sure, keep telling yourself that, but I know what you're trying to do." Kitty raised her brow and smiled.

"Hey white chocolate, you kosher?" A jock called out from farther back in line  
"What'd you say?" Jake turned around, and clenched his fist, "You wana say that again?"  
"Yeah, I said, Are you Kosher." sensing the conflict, several kids moved out of the way.  
"I hope you have insurance because you're going to need it." Jake moved forward, shoulders back, read to strike.

"I got this. Kitty replied. "Hey James, you talk a big game, but it's a real shame that you're not big where it counts." Kitty's words cut like venom. She delivered the blow so flawlessly. It was now secerte that Kitty could be ruthless and mean. Her words could devastate people physically and mentally, but Jake had to admit, it was nice when her works were working in his favor rather than the other way around.  
"Damn!" One of his fellow jocks around him exclaimed, "She got you dude!"  
"Hey. Shut up!" James' face was quickly turning red, yet losing color at the same time, "Fuck you! Fuck all of you, you're nothing but a stupid bitch."  
"Yeah, I know." Kitty replied with icy.

"Hey dude, I think it's time for you to go." Jake suggested with a smug smile. James opened his mouth to say something, but no words would come out. He pushed his way through the back of the crowd in a rush, and left the lunch room.  
"Hey, thanks, but I could have handled myself, you know."  
"Yeah, I know."  
"Whatever." The two got there food and sat down, talking about glee club and other things happening around the school. Jake told Kitty about how the biography he was reading captured him. He explained that it was kind of fun and relevant to him.  
"You sound like Artie..."  
"Is that a bad thing?"  
"Not exactly, but you don't sound like Jake."

"Maybe this is a new Jake, a smarter Jake. A Jake that wants to better himself through knowledge rather than his fist. Maybe I'm trying to reinvent myself."  
"If you say so, just don't go soft on me. I can't be seen around with a push over. Now, I was thinking about if Ryder and Mrs. Sandra Dean got together. Wouldn't it be great if something just happened to happen to their music?"  
"Their music?"  
"Jake, it's inevitable that they're going to sing a duet about it. Everyone does." She retorted, "So that was just something minor I was thinking about."  
"Jesus Christ..."  
"Hey! Don't say that. I don't want to be in heaven all alone."  
Jake sighed. Just when he thought that Kitty was having anything close to a human emotion, she drove the car off the cliff to sociopathia. He shrugged, "Hey. Thanks for sitting with me, but I have to go. I gotta think about something. I'll see you later Kitty." He walked to the exit, "Hey, I need to go call my mom." Jake lied, "I don't feel well."  
"Very well." The teacher said, and let him walk through the exit, he looked back and flashed a smile at Kitty. She raised an eyebrow, picked up her stuff, and sat with the rest of the cheerios.

_That was an interesting lunch._ He thought. Once he was out of sight of the lunch room he ran into the locker room, set his things up, and began to read.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Notes!:  
_**Hello everyone!  
I apologize for the tardiness of the full chapter, but it's here now! :)  
University has me running around like crazy with all the work I have. Finals are this week which is good and bad. It means I have winter break around the corner, and I'll be able to update probably about three times. The bad side is that I probably wont update for about a week. The BEST part about it this is, the next chapter is when I plan to have steamy Jyder action. So stay tuned. Also, sorry for the kind of abrupt ending to this chapter. I promise I'll make up for it. You guys are the best. 3 I hope you enjoy.**

P.S. Tell me what you think! Give me suggestions/Comments/critiques/otherproductivethings in the reviews

_Well, that was a good practice. _Ryder thought. He stepped off the field unto the sideline bench. _Maybe we might actually have a chance this season._ It wouldn't be so bad if his first year at McKinley the team won some sort of championship.

A national would be nice, but it's not healthy to set your goals so high. He'd even settle for a district, or maybe even state. He hook his head, giggling. He was a dreamer. "Hey Ryder! Come on! End game speech." Coach Bieste bellowed from center field.

"Okay guys! Everyone in! Let me start by saying that you guys have come a long way from the start of the year. We have a good team this year, too. Some returning players from our national win last year, but mostly new guys. Each and everyone of you has something to contribute to this team! For you new guys, even if we haven't found your specialty yet, it'll surface! Just remember to do your best and give One hundred and ten percent (110%) EVERYDAY! For those of you who are were on the team last year, Don't let your heads go up your ass! Everything can go south in a matter of minutes, and I have absolutely NO problems with bashing a few skulls if I need to..."

Ryder had to admit; Coach Bieste didn't try to be elegant, and formality probably wasn't even in her vocabulary, save for very special occasions, but she was such a good speaker. The way that she could motivate her team was unbelievable. She has such natural eloquence it gave him goosebumps. Her words weren't just rhetoric that came as part of the job, no, her words were truths.

In fact, her speeches weren't stories, they weren't just words, they were life lessons that Ryder would be wise to remember.  
"EVERYONE BREAK ON THREE!" She enthused, "ONE. TWO. THREE. MCKINLEY!"  
"MCKINLEY! WOOOOO" The team echoed.  
"Now, hit the showers, I'm starting to get light headed from the stench!" The team laughed and disbanded, "Hey Ryder, hang back a second?"  
"Yeah, coach?"  
"You did a really good job out there today. Keep it up, and you might just be in for a surprise." She slapped him on the back, "See you later." and with that, Bieste walked away.

_I might just be in for a surprise? What did that mean?_ Ryder knew he wasn't the best at words, but he was pretty such that, even for scholars, that message was pretty cryptic. He shrugged, he'd ponder it later, right now he needed to clean himself up; Coach was right, his body oder was starting to make him nauseous.

Ryder looked around the field, empty. Something swelled inside him. He had the strongest urge to sing. Practice had ended early, he still had time until he met up with Jake. He began to hear the orchestration in his head, quite, but there. He looked around the field once more. He took his helmet off, and look up into the sky, the dreamy dusk looking back at him.

"I have often dreamed  
Of a far off place  
Where a great warm welcome  
Will be waiting for me"

He could see the team, staring down the end zone. It was the last kick of the game. The stadium light were beating down his neck, jeers from both sides buzzed in his ears,

"Where the crowds will cheer  
When they see my face  
And a voice keeps saying

This is where I'm meant to be"

Ryder goes in to make the kick. Time seems to stand still. His heart races. One. Two. Three. It went in! The crowd explodes! His teammates rush him. He did it.

"I know every mile  
Will be worth my while  
I would go most anywhere  
To feel like I belong"

Ryder danced his way into the locker room. Before he had even realized where he was the dark, musty, stench of the locker room attacked him, "Oh. Wow. How'd I get here?"

"You kind of danced right in here. Singing, like no one else was around, it was pretty cool." Jake responded.  
"Oh, you heard that?" Ryder blushed.  
"Yeah," Jake smiled and fained a chuckle, "I guess now I should just call you, my little hero from now on?"

Ryder blushed harder. He hadn't meant for anyone to see him. He probably looked like a fool, but he was so absorbed into his own little universe; where felt he could lift one thousand men! In his world with his back arched and his chest plumed out. Where, for once, the spandex and tacky colors worked for him, and he wasn't just bound by hoodies and jeans. "

Your little hero? Doesn't that sound kind of pettish?"  
"Hmm, maybe, but its whatever. You're my bro." Jake said, "Bros a special." It felt good to be special. Ryder smiled, "Well, thanks." Was it the combination of being accepted and valued, or just the feeling of having a friend? Ryder didn't know, but it was certainly nice to have that feeling going through his body, like a splash of alcohol. He scratched his head, and gripped the back of his hair,

"Hey, so, um, is there any reason that you're shirtless, and uh, oiled up like you just got done modeling?" Ryder asked

"I got bored, after I got done in the library..."  
"Wait," Ryder interrupted, "you were in the LIBRARY?!"  
"Yeah, shut up, I didn't feel like failing a Spanish test. Anyway, so I decided to check out a book on BoysIImen."

"This is just a day of first for you, isn't it?!" Ryder pulled his shirt off, "I bet you actually read it, too."  
"Yeah, actually I did. I took notes."  
"No way. You're shittin' me." Ryder took off his hands, "Yeah, uh, excuse the smell. It was a hard day at practice."

"You're fine. You've got nothing on the room." Jake nodded backwards, " Anyway, after lunch and stuff I decided to come in here. Workout a little instead of just waiting. So, yeah. Get in the shower. Lets get going."  
"Whatever. Give me a sec." Ryder tied a towel onto his hips, dropped his boxers, and grabbed a few bottles from locker, "You know, you're not exactly clean yourself. You might want to take a shower, too." He walked over to the showers.

Jake shrugged, "Yeah. I guess. Can I barrow some soap?"  
"Don't you have your own?" Ryder set his bottles on the ledge of the shower.  
"Yeah, but I'm lazy."  
"Ugh, fine. Here. I'll set it on top."  
"Or we could shower together..." Jake commented.

Ryder stopped midway from reaching handle on. Did he really just hear that? Did he say what he thought he said? His face felt headed, even hotter than from when he was practicing. His body felt strangely warm, and his breathing became shallow so suddenly it caused him to cough.  
"You alright? Jake asked,  
"Yeah, what you said, it caught me off guard." He looked out the curtain.  
"Chill, it was a joke." Jake walked into the vestibule of the showers.

"Jesus Christ, haven't you heard of a towel?!" Jake stood there buck naked. His body gleamed in the light. The dimness of the room added to his complexion, and gave his already alluring figure an enchanting charm. Ryder couldn't look away; he was memorized. He liked to think that his body wasn't bad, his body had its attractive qualities, and coupled with his boyish face, the package would be complete, but Jake's body made Ryder look like he was a kindergarten.

Ryder was a nice T.V.; whereas Jake was a brand new HDTV. The definition was incredible, "Can I help you?" Jake broke his spell,  
"Huh? Oh. No. Let's get showered."


End file.
